Common SEO Mistakes

The problem with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is that its best practices are constantly changing. The whole point of SEO is to improve your rankings on Google and other search engines, however they change their algorithms all of the time. Keeping up with the most effective techniques is hard work, and business owners simply don’t have the time to read up on the changes – which is when most mistakes are made.

SEO blunders are serious, because any mistake can lead to penalties on your website. You could be trying to improve your rankings but end up making them worse. That’s why it’s always best to trust a professional SEO or digital marketing agency with your SEO strategy, as it’s in their interest to keep up with the industry guidelines and changes. Here are some of the most common SEO mishaps that we see all the time.

Missing Tags and Meta Descriptions

You could have one of the best pieces of content on the web, but without meta titles, descriptions and tags it won’t perform well. Search engines will crawl this data when displaying your webpage so it’s a crucial optimisation element. Tags for images are also important as search bots can’t recognise that image, so you need to tell them who it is relevant to. It doesn’t take long to properly fill out meta data, so make sure they are all accurate and relevant.

Not Measuring Progress

What is the point in investing time and money into SEO if you can’t measure the results? There are loads of analytics tools which can be used by marketers and businesses to follow the progress of your website. However it’s important to understand the optimisation is not an instant process, so you’ll have to commit to an SEO strategy long term to reap the benefits.

Bad/Broken Links

Google doesn’t like broken links – and neither do your site visitors. Whether it’s an internal or external link, make sure that they are all directing to where they should be. Also be careful of adding too many links or links with anchor text that aren’t relevant – this can really put you in a bad light in the eyes of search engines.

Duplicate Content

Many companies can naturally feel the need to duplicate web copy, especially if they have a number of pages selling the same products or services. However, this can leave search engines confused, resulting in lower rankings and decreased traffic. Do you want to make sure you never make any serious SEO mistakes? Take a look at our SEO services which are tailored to each business.